from the chair
Opportunity Washington Represents
a Bold New Approach
Mike Schwenk
While chatting with a staff member recently in AWB’s
offices, the conversation inevitably drifted toward the
upcoming legislative session. “It’s going to be a tough one,”
lamented my colleague. “It sure is,” I replied.
Then I paused and smiled.
“Listen to ourselves. Have you ever seen the movie
‘Groundhog Day?’ I mean, don’t we have this conversation
every year? Isn’t it always going to be a tough legislative
session?” And, of course, we had to admit, that yes, it is
always tough. It is a familiar refrain. And sometimes it
does seem like we’re Bill Murray hitting the alarm clock —
here we go — again.
arise. Old ways become less acceptable. New threats to
our way of life emerge. New opportunities to grab are
swept into view. The economy cycles. Sometimes what
once seemed impossible, becomes possible.
We’re pretty seasoned at this, actually. It is the environment AWB has operated in for decades.
This year we are tweaking the way we go about this. Yes,
we are still scanning the horizon and preparing to react to
what we can sense, or actually know, is coming.
But perhaps more importantly, this year we are going
to go on the offense. This year we have teamed with our
WashACE partners — the Washington Roundtable and
Washington Research Council — to create Opportunity
Washington. It is a commitment, a promise. It is a rallying
cry directed at a cause. It is about empowering the entire
business community of Washington to focus on the few,
not the many. It’s about establishing priorities for our time,
talent and treasure to help fix the top most challenges we
face every day as we go about our business:
• Achieve: education and workforce development
• Connect: transportation
• Employ: economic growth
The faces may change in the governor’s office, at the top
levels of the state’s agencies and in the Legislature, but it
seems the issues, debates and processes we go through to
grind out budgets, regulations, and policies remain the same.
Hearings sound the same. Speeches and rhetoric sound
the same. We’ve heard it all before.
And so we have. But it really is for good reason. The
world does not stand still. Times do change. New needs
16 association of washington business
Behind each of these are specific recommendations and
a call to action. That call will reach the largest business
grassroots collaborative ever seen in this state. By focusing
our collective efforts, Opportunity Washington intends to
tackle and solve these issues once and for all. To stop the
reruns of “Groundhog Day.” To be able to demonstrate to
ourselves and those who watch from the sidelines that we
can come together and be a body for solutions.
At the Policy Summit I shared the famous Albert
Einstein quote that, “The definition of insanity is doing
the same thing over and over again and expecting
different results.”
Not this time. Not this year.
AWB is raising the bar and elevating its game. We can’t
afford to wait any longer. We must be about fixes. And so
we will be. How exciting can that be?! Get on board, fasten
your seat belts. This will be a great ride. I’m privileged to
be going along with you.